NCAA BK

San Francisco-Gonzaga Preview

If Kelly Olynyk and his Gonzaga teammates play as well as they
did in their most recent contest, the Bulldogs should have little
trouble continuing their home dominance over San Francisco.

Looking to remain undefeated in the West Coast Conference, the
No. 10 Bulldogs try for a 24th consecutive home victory over the
Dons on Saturday.

The 7-foot Olynyk made all nine of his field-goal attempts and
went 8 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 26 points in
Gonzaga's 83-63 home win over BYU on Thursday. The result helped
the Bulldogs (18-2, 5-0) rebound from a last-second 64-63 loss at
ninth-ranked Butler last weekend, and further solidified Olynyk as
one of the nation's best big men.

A junior who redshirted in 2011-12 after inconsistent play his
first two seasons, Olynyk averages a team-leading 18.5 points and
ranks among the national leaders with a 67.4 field-goal percentage.
He also recorded nine rebounds and a career-high five assists
against the Cougars.

"If I can get the ball in the center of the zone, it's hard for
a defense,'' he said. "The guards were feeding me and we made great
plays (Thursday).''

Olynyk has averaged 25.0 points while shooting 70.3 percent (45
of 64) and 8.4 rebounds in the last five games. His least
productive effort during that span came last Saturday when Butler
held him to 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

"I was ecstatic with how we flew around, and for the most part
we kept it up all night," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, whose team
has allowed WCC opponents to shoot a league-low 41.4 percent while
enjoying its best conference start since going 6-0 in 2009-10.

That likely does not bode well for San Francisco (9-11, 2-5),
which has won three straight at home in the series but is mired in
a 23-game skid at Spokane, Wash., that dates to a 60-52 victory
Feb. 10, 1989. It is the sixth-longest active winning streak for
one school at home over another in Division I.

Harris, who scored 21 and pulled down 11 rebounds in last
season's 66-65 loss at San Francisco, has averaged 16.3 points in
seven games against the Dons.

San Francisco junior Cole Dickerson has totaled 14 points in
four games versus Gonzaga, but averages a team-leading 14.9 and hit
a 3-pointer with one second left in Thursday's 75-72 win at
Portland. UCLA transfer De'End Parker scored 16 and Dickerson
finished with 15 as the Dons shot 53.2 percent while overcoming an
11-point deficit to win their second straight following a five-game
slide.

Though San Francisco ranks near the bottom of the WCC allowing
73.1 points per game and 44.9 percent shooting in conference play,
coach Rex Walters is happy with his team's recent effort.

"I think we can play better, especially defensively," he said.
"But Iove our heart and how hard we play."

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